Niels Burgess, right, leads the Sequoia High School Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club Friday at SHS in Visalia. / Juan Villa

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Niels Burgess, left, watches his students during the Sequoia High School Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club Friday at SHS in Visalia. / Juan Villa

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The training space is tight, the wrestling mat is more than 20 years old and most of the gis, or uniforms, are hand-me-downs, but that isn’t slowing down the new Sequoia High School Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club.

Students at the continuation school in Visalia have been learning “the gentle art” since October from their American literature teacher and Elite Team Jiu-Jitsu brown belt Niels Burgess.

“It’s a great sport. It has an athletic component and a martial arts component that I think kids benefit from,” he said. “Kids at Sequoia especially benefit from it because it gives them a release, an outlet.”

Many of the students don’t have similar outlets or things like gym memberships, so the class is an alternative for them to get some exercise and have some fun, Burgess said.

Sequoia junior Casper Pesqueira has wanted to try jiu-jitsu for years, but paying for a membership at local gyms has kept him from it. He joined the club in January.

“I’ve been fantasizing and dreaming about jiu-jitsu since I was small. I watch a lot of [mixed martial arts] and I knew I had to do it, it’s my thing. I joined, it clicked and it makes me feel amazing,” he said. “… this was my only opportunity to do it. It’s been amazing. It’s everything I ever imagined.”

A recent session led by Burgess had 12 students and two teachers. Pesqueira hasn’t missed a meeting since joining and has even asked to stay longer, but the club doesn’t have that available.

Sequoia High School Principal Adolfo Reyes said the club, where students can earn elective credits, allows students to connect with their teacher. It’s something he’s also seen when students participate in other school-related clubs and sports.

“Now he has rapport with them. When they’re in class, they’re performing at a higher level academically because they connect with the teacher,” he said. “Also, now they’re part of something where they’re belonging and they’re contributing. They’re also learning self-control and respect. And they’ll learn you train to fight so you don’t have to fight.”

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Burgess agrees.

“Self-defense is definitely a part of it. A lot of our kids are in environments where they could conceivably get caught up in a fight, but in reality I try and teach the kids restraint,” he said. “That’s the number one lesson in jiu-jitsu.”

Brazilian jiu-jitsu — commonly referred to as BJJ — focuses on grappling and ground fighting. It’s a martial art developed to enable the smaller, weaker person to successfully defend himself against a bigger, stronger opponent using leverage and proper technique. BJJ isn’t mixed martial arts, there isn’t punching or striking.

At Sequoia, the first rule of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club is: respect everyone.

In order to participate in any of the sports or programs at Sequoia, students must maintain good attendance (85 percent or better), maintain a 2.5 grade point average or better and have no suspension or behavior issues in any classes.

Any club member fighting on or off campus is immediately removed from the club.

“It’s a great motivation for them to stay focused and stay on track,” said Burgess, who is donating his time for the club. “Anytime anyone is involved with programs we see an improvement in school. Some of it is connected with the incentive, but a lot of it is just being able to release your energies and tensions and have something to look forward to after school. As teenagers, when you get bored that’s when we act up. When we aren’t bored, we’re fine.”

The club meets after school three times a week for an hour, with a couple of students now getting in more training on their own time at Elite in Visalia.

Visalia Unified School District awarded the club a $500 mini grant that will be applied toward the new mats when more money is raised. The new mats cost about $2,000 and are more suited for jiu-jitsu than the wrestling mat they currently use.

“We would like to get more people involved and if anyone can donate to the class that would be great,” Pesqueira said. “We’re using old mats and it’s just not good. We could use any contribution for a new mat, that’s really all we need.”

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The gis the students are using were donated by at least 30 people from Elite.

“I really have to thank them for that. Tom [Knox] has a great group of people over there,” he said. “I originally just put a basket out asking for donations of gis and I came back and it was just full. Every night I had to empty it.”

There are three times the gis the club needs, which he says is perfect because once they get new mats he knows he’ll get more students interested. Burgess said he cleans the mats religiously so the students don’t get sick and it’s the home economics teacher that has been taking care of the gis.

One of the club’s goals is to prepare the students for jiu-jitsu tournaments, if they want to participate. April’s Copa Pacifica de Jiu-Jitsu in Huntington Beach is on their radar.

If they want to come, exercise and have fun. that’s totally up to them. The more people they have the merrier, Burgess said.

As new students join the club, a giggling phase also arrives because jiu-jitsu can look and feel awkward. Having someone so close in contact with you can seem strange at first, especially for younger students.

“After a while they get used to it,” Burgess said. “They start to notice the technique works, they see it applied and see results, then they get serious and it becomes a different game.”

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